Let me clarify what the above means. I will reuse things as long as I can, I will not purchase new clothes unless the ones I currently have are worn out. I am not overly concerned with fashion or as some people might suggest, I am not concerned with it at all. This probably works to my detriment as far as "looking good" is concerned but honestly, I don't really care about that either. As you get older you will understand a bit better. I too used to spend a tremendous amount of my money on fashion and brand names but now I just don't get involved with that unless the brand actually IS better than the counterparts.
So far the only thing that I am aware of where the brand name is better than other brands is with New Balance shoes.
Speaking of which, my New Balance shoes are 4 years old, worn almost daily, and are starting to get a bit beat up.
These cross trainers were around $50 when I bought them and they have withstood the test of time. Since I do exercise and I DO go hiking and biking and all sorts of other things, we can say that I truly have cross trained them for 4 years as well.
Those bits that are hanging off the front are not going to convince me to get a new set. I will simply buy some superglue. The thing is, there are no holes in them, they are still comfortable and aside from being a little bit on the stinky side, there is nothing wrong with them. Why would I buy another pair?
Then there are my water bottles. I have about 8 of them and I have had them for quite some time. I find it to be environmentally irresponsible to not do what i am doing. I do know a bunch of people that continuously purchase new water bottles and while they are sold for recycling in this and most other countries, it is still very wasteful. Not just potentially to the environment but also on your wallet. When you buy a bottle of water the bottle is worth considerably more than the water inside of it is. It just seems wasteful to me even if you are forgoing the environmental aspect of it.
Then there are my takeaway containers. I eat out for most of my meals because it is so inexpensive in Vietnam to do so. I will at times bring my own containers with me but sometimes that isn't possible. I also save any foil that I am given. I don't even know if i need these things but there may come a time when I decide to make a bunch of chili con carne. I would rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them!
that powerbank is many years old as well... buy quality ones and you only have to do it once!
Lastly we'll look at my pencils, which I am not embarrassed at all to say that I prefer over pencils. I admit that i make mistakes when I am writing - that's why. I will use this pencil until it is incapable of being sharpened again. This lasts so much longer than any pen and we have the added benefit of the fact that there is no plastic involved. Once again though, please understand that i am not really an "environmental guy" I just don't like the idea of something that likely will not be reused and stays in the earth for 1000 years.
My friends sometimes call me a packrat or a horder but I am quite the opposite. I don't save everything but only things that I believe still have a use, even if I don't know what that use actually is. They do say that I probably should get rid of my one big bottle that I have for when I go to the gym and even though I am trying to not be wasteful, they may actually be correct about that one.
I don't know if drinking that moss or whatever it is will actually harm me, but it doesn't seem to be doing so up to now. I'll probably comply with my friends' advice and get rid of this one thing and continue to hang on to the rest of the gear.
I'm not stingy, that is not why I do this: I actually make considerably more money than most of my friends and this will be especially true if BTC continues in its current trajectory. My entire life fits into a few medium sized boxes and very little of what I have is wasteful. I think the world in general would be a lot easier if more people adapted this way of life. Consumerism probably will never allow that though.